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The role of message specificity in corporate social responsibility communication

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  • Robinson, Stefanie
  • Eilert, Meike

Abstract

Companies vary in how they communicate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) endeavors, either reporting the specific causes supported (e.g., “We support the American Lung Association, Kidney Foundation, and Multiple Sclerosis Society”) or mentioning the issue in general (e.g., “We support advancing health”). This study investigates which message strategy (general or specific) is more effective and shows that when companies donate to a single issue (e.g., health), a specific rather than a general message strategy produces more positive evaluations. This is because consumers trust companies more when they communicate their cause support with more specificity. However, when a company donates to a diverse set of issues (e.g., health, environment, and education), a boundary condition to the effect occurs. This research has important implications for managers' decisions on how best to advertise their CSR efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Robinson, Stefanie & Eilert, Meike, 2018. "The role of message specificity in corporate social responsibility communication," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 260-268.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:90:y:2018:i:c:p:260-268
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.05.028
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    Cited by:

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    3. Janssen, Catherine & Swaen, Valérie & Du, Shuili, 2022. "Is a specific claim always better? The double-edged effects of claim specificity in green advertising," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 435-447.
    4. Lan Li & Gang Li & Fu-Sheng Tsai & Hsiu-Yu Lee & Chien-Hsing Lee, 2019. "The Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Service Innovation Performance: The Role of Dynamic Capability for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Jialing Lin & Yubo Huang & Mengyao Li, 2023. "Enhancing Green Purchase Intentions: The Effects of Product Transformation Salience and Consumer Traceability Knowledge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.
    6. François Maon & Valérie Swaen & Kenneth de Roeck, 2021. "Coporate branding and corporate social responsibility: Toward a multi-stakeholder interpretive perspective," Post-Print hal-03275858, HAL.
    7. Rachel Esther Lim & Wei‐Na Lee, 2023. "Communicating corporate social responsibility: How fit, specificity, and cognitive fluency drive consumer skepticism and response," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 955-967, March.
    8. Bartikowski, Boris & Berens, Guido, 2021. "Attribute framing in CSR communication: Doing good and spreading the word – But how?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 700-708.
    9. Rocco Mazza & Emma Zavarrone & Mirko Olivieri & Daniela Corsaro, 2022. "A text mining approach for CSR communication: an explorative analysis of energy firms on Twitter in the post-pandemic era," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2022(3), pages 317-340, September.
    10. (Anna) Kim, Eunjin & Shoenberger, Heather & (Penny) Kwon, Eunseon & Ratneshwar, S., 2022. "A narrative approach for overcoming the message credibility problem in green advertising," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 449-461.
    11. Xiaoyang Xu & Muhammad Imran & Muhammad Ayaz & Sonia Lohana, 2022. "The Mediating Role of Green Technology Innovation with Corporate Social Responsibility, Firm Financial, and Environmental Performance: The Case of Chinese Manufacturing Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Jeesun Kim & Sun Young Lee & Hyun Jee Oh, 2023. "The Effects of Message Specificity on Outcomes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication: Testing Perceived Social Distance as a Mediator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.
    13. Dae-Young Kim & Sung-Bum Kim & Kathleen Jeehyae Kim, 2019. "Building corporate reputation, overcoming consumer skepticism, and establishing trust: choosing the right message types and social causes in the restaurant industry," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 13(2), pages 363-388, June.

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